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Thursday, October 27, 2016

Our centre is located in the island of Menorca. It has vocational studies to become a Technician in Microcomputer Systems and Networks and also a Higher Technician in Development of Web Applications. We have a commitment with the international experiences of students to complete the technical, language training and personal growth of them. In addition, this gives them new experiences and awareness of the European cultural diversity.The Centre has experience in sending trainees abroad. We have already developed an Erasmus + project that ended the previous course 2015-16. One of our students spent 2 and a half months in Hamburg and another one 6 months also there. We had the visit of a German web development expert and one of our teachers could do a formative stay in the UK. In the past, other students travelled to Portugal, Italy and Finland. In this case it was done with projects by the Balearic Islands local government.This project proposed to send trainees of our studies of Technician in Microcomputer Systems and Networks to Finland and the United Kingdom. Finally, two students went to Italy, where we had another partner. We will detail the reasons later. Our selection of students is focussed to select the ones that have a good technical knowledge, enough English level to perform their practices and to be young, mature and enthusiastic people. We have also offered our partners, unsuccessfully, to receive trainees from their countries. In this case they could have had a traineeship at a local company with our supervision. We hope it will be possible in the future.Our centre has an ISO 9011 Quality management system built into Google Drive. Our Mobility Commission, has managed for 6 years the European practices of our students, requested successfully twice the Erasmus University Charter and prepared applications for new annual projects. Everything is done transparently and published in the mobility centre Blogs:http://ramisinternacional.blogspot.com.es/ (Blog for our students)http://ramisinternational.blogspot.com.es/ (Blog to foreign entities or students)

The expected result is that students can do a practical training or even work in another European country. These are very enriching experiences both for personal and professionally growth. There are already precedents, as we have some ex-students working in London or Wales. They encourage our current students to follow their steps. We also hope to improve the language skills of students, especially in English.Our project goal was realistic: having every school year more students interested in performing international stays. Like this, the impact will grow. Experienced students would afterwards work in local companies and transmit their experience to them.

In the long term and also thanks to other programs we are implementing, like the European Sections (teaching secondary level students a non linguistic subject in English), we will have students with a better language knowledge and, therefore, better prepared to stay up to date with the latest ICT trends.About the mobilities done with this project, we have to say that the two students were for 10 weeks in Vincenza - Italy. For different reasons, our partners in Finland and the UK could not find us host companies for the students. Prior their departure to Italy, both students started an online Italian course, a language they did not know. The stays were organized with our partner, an intermediary company, which was in charge of finding accommodation and a company where to do the practices. Both students went to different host companies and accommodations. Carlos completed his traineeship in a company that sells through the Internet used-car pieces. The practices were satisfactory although our student would have required more technical assistance from the company. Tania practices were more difficult, as the company didn’t fit well the studies she had done. It was an online Marketing company. We suggested the intermediate company to find another placement for her, but it was not possible. Nevertheless, she appreciated her overall experience.As a conclusion, we have to say that we are happy to have given the students the possibility of doing their practicals abroad, but we know we have to find better placements for the following years.

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Our High School, IES Joan Ramis I Ramis is located in Mahón, the capital of Menorca and this is our first own European project. We already had previous experience with other student’s and teacher’s mobilities in projects with the local Balearic Islands Government. The project targets the Higher Level Training Cycle (CFGS) of Technician in Development of Web Applications. The students have 3 hours of a subject in English during the first course and 10 during their second year, which helps them get a good English level. The main goal of the project is to give our students an international experience in their field of studies, improving their knowledge of foreign languages.

The project lasts 24 months and has allowed us to cooperate with the company Qubidy.com from Hamburg. Two students have been there as trainees: one for 6 months during the first year of the project (half of the time as a ”zero grant”) and another student for two and a half months during the second year of the project. It has been very useful for them, the first one also got a good German level in just 6 months. This year we have also received the CEO and technical expert of Quibidu in Menorca. He has given our staff very useful information about the technologies they use and their work methodologies. Here it is interesting to remember that our studies are about Web development, which is precisely what this company is devoted to. We also organised a seminar with local experts and entrepreneurs. We think that in future projects we will keep cooperating with them. The important recommendation to our students is to start learning German before their traineeship. Even if it is not needed for the job, it is an advantage to live in Germany for some months. Finally, one of our teachers undertook a training course in London on CMS Magnolia (https://www.magnolia-cms.com/), a technology which is also related to our studies. Afterwards the teacher made a presentation in our High School for the students and the local technological community.
The project results have not only been very positive and helpful for the two students who did their traineeship abroad, but also for their mates that attended the teacher and visitor’s talks. In the medium and long term, the project encourages us to carry on with the cooperation with this German company and to find others to work with. The technologies that the students have learned and used during their traineeships can help us embed them into the classroom. We’ve also noticed that the students who want to do practical training abroad in the following years, have greater interest in learning German.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Last June 21, the three students who have participated in Erasmus mobilities + explained to his colleagues their travels.

Carlos Grageda explained that he enjoyed a lot in Italy and even wanted to stay longer. It was not possible but he wants to return to his new home and visit their new friends. He worked on a demolition company car, participating in a project to introduce all company information in a database. Later, he changed his project to make the company’s website. In addition, he traveled to Milan and other places, showing us all the photos of his travels. By the way, he was there the day of the final of the Champions Madrid - Atletico Madrid. And he found many Spaniards along the way!

Tania & Carlos traveled together for going there and returning. She explained us how was the place she lived, being in an apartment with different partners and one of the rooms of the house had every week a new partner. The arrival was not the best for her, because the van which drive them from the airport in Venice to Vicenza was a bit small. Her work tasks were focused on performing Internet marketing tools using Facebook and Twitter. Personally, she would have liked to do more studies-related tasks. But, anyway, she explained us how she was able to travel, for example to Venice twice and Padova.

Finally Borja Benejam explained us his travel with Kico to Hamburg. After a few days in a shared room with a Pakistani host to use as a base camp to be able to search a new home, he moved to a shared good house half an hour aways of his new job center in an Hamburg apartment. The task done and the job quality really liked him technologically although it was long to stay there 2 and a half months without a good knowledge of German language, being this a limitation to communicate.

We thank the students exhibitions and hope that the next courses more students participate in our Erasmus + projects at Ramis High School.

Our student Web Application Development, Borja Benejam, will do an Erasmus + stay in Hamburg. It is supposed to finish it and the end of May 2016, although the possibility of extending the practice until the end of August will be attempted.

Our institute, IES Joan Ramis i Ramis, has two Erasmus + own projects, one for Higher Level, which has allowed us to develop 2 stays of students in Germany, receiving a computer professional on our island and to train a teacher in London, all during the last two years.

The company which Borja will help is called Qubidu (www.qubidu.com) and they are dedicated to the development of next-generation websites and applications for mobile and smart TVs. It has about 8 employees having a very open-minded company which welcomes our students in a very nice and cute way. Last year we started a very successful and professional relationship with one of their managers in a visit to our tiny island.

Borja has B2 English and basic German level and he will start his firsts days there accompanied by the coordinator of the project, Kico Borrás, who will help him to find a room, coordinate activities with Qubidu, schedule the training program practices and try to build a relationship that can send students annually.

Borja, we wish you good luck in your stay.
More information on Mobility Blog

Teacher Alberto Soto of Ramis’s High School received a training in Magnolia during the first week of December in London. The stay was part of Erasmus + 2014-1-SE01-KA103-000556 project with the center. Albert believes it has been a very good experience for the quality of the training. This training can be used for giving more knowledge to their courses at the Higher Level Web Application Development.

Alberto made an exhibition of more than an hour to all Ramis’s students explaining Magnolia technology. Using his own words:

Within the world of web applications, content management systems or CMS begin to be a link between publishers and web application programmers. Although wordpress usage is increasing it does not make much sense to use a CMS of these characteristics for many integrations that wish to perform and Magnolia can offer a better integration and professional usage.

Magnolia CMS is, in that context, an abstract programming system that allows content publishers to manage an serve content in several websites easily without the need to write complex coding or having any technical knowledge. For the programmer’s point of view it assumes abstraction entirely on the web, and lets them program source on live and generate multisite websites like "1and1", create web systems and a multitude of features such as server configuration using directly a web interface.

Using that point of view, the features of the latest version of this system are presented after a training conducted under the European framework (Erasmus +) that enables less experienced developers to create high level collaborative environments.

In Betabeers also was shown a presentation of island's map coding: Beyond Google Maps. The Menorcan GoogleMaps.
http://cartografia.cime.es/

With a history of over 10 years, Google has managed to democratize the use of digital maps, like no other Geographic Information System has achieved.

The JavaScript API allows you to insert Google Maps on our web pages, create high-performance applications based on description of the location or create images in 3D with Google Earth API. Google Maps API are a free service, but subjected to certain terms and conditions. But ...

What if showing Google Maps is not what we need?

Are there other free map sources?

Are there other similar APIs for Google Maps that can consume other maps?

Are there other data services with spatial component?

For an hour we will make a brief tour to major webmaping APIs that exist apart from Google maps, as well as the main features: OpenLayers
& leaflet